I planted a German Queen this season at it's growing great. It's way taller than everything else. How big can I expect this thing to get, height-wise? It's probably 5' tall now. Just about to the top of it's cage.
It's got some flowers but not tomato's set just yet. My Roma is the only one with tom's so far. They are looking good. I need to go water this morning.
The plant next to it has fruit but none of the other tomatos in that bed do. Maybe I did add too much fertilizer when they were planted. They were all about the same though. And I followed the directionsTZ -OH6 wrote:It will grow until conditions (heat/drought or frost) stunt it or kill it. It sounds like that plant may have gotten too much fertilizer if it is that tall without heavy flowering.
Can this overfertilized condition work itself out? Even though the plants are pretty, I want some fruit too.
I need to calm down a bit. It's not even June and I'm worrying about garden production. I'm getting a little OCD about this stuff. Is that bad?
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Ozark Lady
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1862
- Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:28 pm
- Location: NW Arkansas, USA zone 7A elevation 1561 feet
Normally, you do add some fertilizer, when first setting plants. Whether you use 12-12-12 or manure, compost, or fish meal etc. It is still fertilizer.
It depends on how overboard you go on fertilizer, whether the plants will recover or not. If you overdo it to the point of killing the plant, umm well, they don't recover from that. And too much nitrogen does tend to make gorgeous foliage, at the expense of fruit set. But, just keep watering and no more nitrogen, you could end up with a great harvest if the big lush plant ever kicks into fruiting mode.
I would try just adding something without nitrogen when you next feed your plants, that will make strong roots and help it fruit.
It depends on how overboard you go on fertilizer, whether the plants will recover or not. If you overdo it to the point of killing the plant, umm well, they don't recover from that. And too much nitrogen does tend to make gorgeous foliage, at the expense of fruit set. But, just keep watering and no more nitrogen, you could end up with a great harvest if the big lush plant ever kicks into fruiting mode.
I would try just adding something without nitrogen when you next feed your plants, that will make strong roots and help it fruit.
Following the directions often leads to over fertilization for number of different reasons. Just don't fertilize any more and the plant may outgrow the fertilizer.
Some reasons for over fertilizing while following directions...assuming you are using the correct NPK ratio for your type of plant.
1) Fertilizer companies want to sell more fertilizer so directions are for max/optimal usage
2) Fertilizer is tested under all-day full sun conditions where the sunlight overcomes the tendency for nitrogen to inhibit flowering.
3) Crystal fertilizers et al. are designed for plants in containers where standard proceedure is to flush the pot with an equal volume of fertilizer solution when it is applied to prevent fertilizer buildup, so a one gallon pot will get one gallon of fertilizer solution sprayed into it. Application rate is designed to keep soil nutrient level and moisture high.
Most gardens have less sun than commercial fields, and/or fertilizer is not flushed out of the soil the way it would be in pots so it builds up with repeated applications, or if using pots, people don't tend to flush the pots the way a nursery would so fertilizer can build up.
Some reasons for over fertilizing while following directions...assuming you are using the correct NPK ratio for your type of plant.
1) Fertilizer companies want to sell more fertilizer so directions are for max/optimal usage
2) Fertilizer is tested under all-day full sun conditions where the sunlight overcomes the tendency for nitrogen to inhibit flowering.
3) Crystal fertilizers et al. are designed for plants in containers where standard proceedure is to flush the pot with an equal volume of fertilizer solution when it is applied to prevent fertilizer buildup, so a one gallon pot will get one gallon of fertilizer solution sprayed into it. Application rate is designed to keep soil nutrient level and moisture high.
Most gardens have less sun than commercial fields, and/or fertilizer is not flushed out of the soil the way it would be in pots so it builds up with repeated applications, or if using pots, people don't tend to flush the pots the way a nursery would so fertilizer can build up.
If it were slow release organic fertilizer, a tablespoon in the hole wouldn't be that big of a deal (although it could cause problems if the hole were small). I definitely wouldn't want to put that much fertilizer in a small space if it were a mineral fertilizer. That much fertilizer would be more appropriate for a 2 ft x 2 ft area so I suspect that putting it into the hole gave the young plant a concentrated amount of nitrogen, which could have caused the problem. The total amount isn't too much so the plant should grow into it.
The NPK ratio is a bit top heavy. For tomatoes you want the potassium to be equal to or slightly higher than the nitrogen, unless soil tests indicate high potassium levels. The fruits will need potassium, so if you get solid cores, puffy fruit and/or poor flavor low potassium might be part of the problem.
The NPK ratio is a bit top heavy. For tomatoes you want the potassium to be equal to or slightly higher than the nitrogen, unless soil tests indicate high potassium levels. The fruits will need potassium, so if you get solid cores, puffy fruit and/or poor flavor low potassium might be part of the problem.
There are flowers on the plant but maybe only 20 or 30. But the bunches are all over, just no fruit yet. So I'm thinking one of them will take off before too long. Same with the Better Boys and Bradywines on the other side. Lot of bunches of flowers, no fruit. I gave the bed a good soaking this morning so will just have to wait and see.
The plant next to the German is as labeled Roma and it's got fruit. I planted it exactly the same way. The are definitely not Romas though. The toms on it are round and the plant is short, maybe 24" tall. Very full and leafy and dark green. They are coming along nicely so at least I'll have something.
This gardening hobby is very frustrating. It's a huge learning curve. I like the learning, but if you are a little anal retentive like I am, and analyze everything, then it can be overwhelming.
The plant next to the German is as labeled Roma and it's got fruit. I planted it exactly the same way. The are definitely not Romas though. The toms on it are round and the plant is short, maybe 24" tall. Very full and leafy and dark green. They are coming along nicely so at least I'll have something.
This gardening hobby is very frustrating. It's a huge learning curve. I like the learning, but if you are a little anal retentive like I am, and analyze everything, then it can be overwhelming.